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Brhadaranyaka Upanisad
Chapter Four
5. 'Let us hear what someone has told you.'
'Gardhabhivipita Bharadvaja told me that the ear is brahman.'
Bharadvaja says what anyone would say who had a mother, a father and a teacher to teach him, when he says that the ear is brahman: for what would anyone have who could not hear? But did he tell you its dwelling and support?'
'He did not.'
'Then that is a one-footed brahman, your majesty.'
'So you tell us, Yajnavalkya.'
'The ear itself is its dwelling, space is its support. One should worship it as the endless.'
'What is its endlessness?'
'The ear itself, your majesty,' he said. 'That is why, your majesty, whatever direction one goes in, one never reaches the end of it. The directions are endless, and the directions, your majesty, are the ear. The ear, your majesty, is indeed the supreme brahman. The one who knows this, and worships it as such, the ear does not desert him; all beings flock to him; and becoming a god he goes to the gods.'
'I give you a thousand cows, with a bull like an elephant,' said Janaka of Videha.
Yajnavalkya said, 'My father used to say that one should not accept gifts without having taught.
6. 'Let us hear what someone has told you.'
'Satyakama Jabala told me that the mind is brahman.'
Jabala says what anyone would say who had a mother, a father and a teacher to teach him, when he says that speech is brahman: for what would anyone have who had no mind? But did he tell you its dwelling and support?'
'He did not.'
'Then that is a one-footed brahman, your majesty.'
'So you tell us, Yajnavalkya'
'The mind itself is its dwelling, space is its support. One should worship it as joy.'
'What is its joyfulness?'
'The mind itself, your majesty,' he said, 'Through the mind, your majesty, one is attracted to a woman, and of her a son is born who looks like oneself. That is joy. The mind, your majesty, is indeed the supreme brahman. The one who knows this, and worships it as such, the mind does not desert him; all beings flock to him; and becoming a god he goes to the gods.'
'I give you a thousand cows, with a bull like an elephant,' said Janaka of Videha.
Yajnavalkya said, 'My father used to say that one should not accept gifts without having taught.
7. 'Let us hear what someone has told you.'
'Vidagdha Sakalya told me that the heart is brahman.'
'Sakalya says what anyone would say who had a mother, a father and a teacher to teach him, when he says that the heart is brahman: for what would anyone have who had no heart? But did he tell you its dwelling and support?'
'He did not.'
'Then that is a one-footed brahman, your majesty.'
'So you tell us, Yajnavalkya.'
'The heart itself is its dwelling, space is its support. One should worship it as steadfastness.'
'What is the nature of this steadfastness?'
'The heart itself, your majesty,' he said. 'For the heart, your majesty, is the dwelling of all beings; the heart, your majesty, is the support of all beings. The heart, your majesty, is indeed the supreme brahman. The one who knows this, and worships it as such, the heart does not desert him; all beings flock to him; and becoming a god he goes to the gods.'
'I give you a thousand cows, with a bull like an elephant,' said Janaka of Videha.
Yajnavalkya said, 'My father used to say that one should not accept gifts without having taught.'
IV.2
1. Janaka of Videha came quietly down from his throne and said, 'Homage to you, Yajnavalkya: teach me!'
He said, 'Your majesty, as one about to go on a great voyage would get hold of a chariot or a ship, so you have a self well prepared by these inner teachings (upanisad). You are a leader of men, wealthy: you have studied the Vedas and heard the inner teachings. When you are released from here, where will you go?'
'Blessed one, I do not know where I shall go.'
'Then I will tell you where you will go.'
'Tell me, blessed one.'
2. 'The person in the right eye is called Indha. Though he is Indha, folk call him Indra, mysteriously, because the gods seem to love the mysterious, and hate the obvious.
3. 'The form of a person in the left eye is his wife, Viraj. The place where they meet in praise together is the space within the heart, and their food is the lump of blood within the heart. The path they travel together is the channel that goes upward from the heart. Its channels called hita, like a hair divided into a thousand parts, are established within the heart: through them flows whatever flows. So that self is an eater of choicer food than the bodily self.
4. 'The eastern direction is its eastward breaths; the southern direction, its southward breaths; the western direction, its westward breaths; the northern direction, its northward breaths; the direction above, its upward breaths; the direction below, its downward breaths; all directions, all its breaths. The self is "not this, not this". Unseizable, it is not seized; indestructible, it is not destroyed; without clinging, it is not clung to; unbound, it does not suffer, does not come to harm. You have attained fearlessness, Janaka,' said Yajnavalkya.
Janaka of Videha said, 'May fearlessness come to you, Yajnavalkya, since you, blessed one, make us see fearlessness. Homage to you! Here are the Videhas, and here am I, at your service.
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